Please bear with me as I try and re-cap my experience at GPLH.  If you get nothing else from this review, just know that I am VERY happy with my choice of resorts and my wedding day was AWESOME!  Please forgive me for not having pictures yet, I am not a picture taker and will have to wait until I meet with my photographer this week.

To begin: Check in went smoothly for all guests.  We were greeted with Rum Punch and non-alcoholic drinks for guests once we got off the bus.  There was some confusion on our part about the two sides of the hotel, so some guests requested to be on the Lady Hamilton (LH) side with me and my hubby.  The resort was very accommodating in changing rooms.  We were initially given a third floor room, but since there are no elevators we requested to have 1st floor rooms.  Once again we were accommodated..  There were shuttles that took us to our rooms b/c the resort is HUGE!  We did not get an upgrade to our room b/c the resort was full.  This did not bother me or my hubby b/c we were very pleased with the junior suite we received.  We had a fantastic view, the room was clean and looks just like the pictures.  As a matter of fact the whole resort looks just like what you see in the pictures.  I visited most of my guests rooms and they all had similar accommodations.  Two rooms were experiencing a/c problems but maintenance took care of it (you may have to remind them a few times...) but this didn't ruin anyone's time, we made do until the air was fixed.  After we settled in we had lunch in the Sports Bar.

Con: The food is just OKAY, nothing spectacular and not horrible.  The best place to eat is the Jamaican Hut located by the Poseidon, but it is only open between 12-4 pm. Service in some of the restaurants in on Jamaican time, kinda slow.

 But it just depends on who is waiting on you, most were very efficient and were  very nice.  I didn't run into any rude or non caring staff and I can't think of any that did not do all they could to help.

The Grounds were beautiful and well kept.  Plenty of entertainment and we loved how there were many options available for booking tours and excursions.  Our guests went to the Las Vegas Bar and won $150, went to the shows (and loved them so much returned the next night to watch another), beach, infinity bar club, pool, etc.

Our wedding coordinator, Loraine was very accommodating and even re-arranged our appointment with her to accommodate our last minute plans.  During one of our excursions we met a Jamaican named Jombo Hall that was a musician who was playing outside of some of the souvenir shops.  He sounded so great I told my hubby, we should have him play at our wedding. When we saw him a second time, we thought it was meant to be and asked him to come sing.  For $50 we booked him!  He was AWESOME!  Loraine helped us get him a visitors pass even though she was uneasy about it.  Jombo showed and made it even more special, much better than the IPOD we were going to use!  Loraine helped us finish all the paperwork.  Because we did the legal part here in the states, we changed from wedding package to a renewal package, this is something I think more brides should be aware of.  My ceremony was still a religious wedding ceremony and none of the guests would have known that we had already done the legal part back home.  This saved a lot of $$$.  We still received a beautiful wedding decor (tropical flowers, champagne toast, breakfast in bed, fruit tray and rum  in the room when we checked in, champagne in the room after the wedding, wedding night decor, etc.).  

Wedding Day:

My sister and friend did my hair and make-up so I can't give any suggestions here.  We were given the option to have our dress and suit steamed, but we didn't need it.  Loraine delivered my bouquet (she actually gave me an upgrade)!!!  The bouquet was better than what I would have imagined with my less expensive wedding package).  She also delivered my hubby his boutonniere.  Loraine picked up all the extra nick knacks (sand ceremony stuff, bride/groom champagne glasses, rose petals, wedding favors, menu place cards, etc.) and made sure everything was were it should be.  The ceremony was on time and ran smoothly.  Our sand ceremony was a hit. I added some to the script Loraine had provided b/c I wanted to include God and our son in the sand ceremony.  They allowed Jombo to sing and play his guitar throughout the ceremony and during pictures.  Our main photographer was a friend and we had no problems with the resort allowing  her to take all the photos she wanted.  We did a bridal shoot before the wedding ceremony and group/individual shots after the ceremony.   There was a small timing issue with the shuttle that would take my guests to the cocktail reception so Loraine told us she would  not be strict on the end time of our cocktail reception.  

I have read mixed opinions about cocktail receptions.... My opinion.. This was the HIGHLIGHT of our day!  The food was EXCELLENT!!  The location, the Infiniti Bar, was PHENOMENAL!  We were able to use our IPAD to play music so this is were we did our first dance and our father/daughter & mother/son dance.  There was plenty of food, plenty of space, and private enough for us to enjoy.  We loved it so much we considered canceling our dinner reception and just stay at the Infiniti Bar...  If you want some private time, but do not want to pay for the private reception, I suggest the cocktail reception.  $15 per person for 1 hour, better food than any of the restaurants or what you will get at the dinner reception.  And we still got dinner at Bubba's for the dinner reception.  

Cake:  Not the best tasting, but it didn't matter, most ppl were so stuffed it didn't matter.  Dessert comes with dinner so really the cake is just a traditional decoration!  I would not recommend spending a lot of time or money on additional cake tiers.  

Dinner Reception: One word...SLOW!!!  The service is really slow, so luckily we had already eaten at the cocktail reception, otherwise this may have been an issue.  We used the time to mingle and enjoy each other's company.  We ate at Bubba's and FYI if you order the steak, we were told they all had to be medium well b/c of the size of the group.  Everyone seemed happy with their dinner, we were able to have both chicken and steak on each plate for each guest.  A waste of food, but it helped b/c we didn't have to worry about who wanted what.

After Dinner:  After dinner the wedding party split from the other guests (guests wanter some time to do their own thing for their last night on the resort) and ended the night with a splash... Literally!!!  Still fully dressed in our wedding gear, we went to the adult pool and "trashed the dress" by jumping into the pool!  It was one of the best things I have ever done in a gown!!

When we returned to our room, it was decorated like a honeymoon suite and looked very romantic.  Our son left the morning after our wedding and we had a excursion early the morning after our wedding, so we actually missed our breakfast in bed b/c we were not there.  But once again the hotel did not disappoint us!  We got married on Friday June 22, we missed breakfast in bed on Sat. June 23 b/c we left so early, so on Sunday June 24, we called and asked if we could have breakfast in bed and the hotel accommodated this request (even though they had prepared it and had it ready to deliver on Saturday!). 

On Monday we needed to do some shopping at Harley Davidson and needed a taxi, initially we were quoted $120 for a private taxi for a 3-4 hour shopping trip in Montego Bay, but once again we contacted someone else a the hotel and ended up paying $50 for a private taxi shopping trip roundtrip for two people for 4 hours in Montego Bay.

Well I think this is all I can remember, my new hubby is snoring away, but I had to let all Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Brides know, that my wedding day was all I could have dreamed of and I am sure GPLH will not disappoint.  Oh and we ran into a TON of other GPLH brides during our stay and they all said they loved it!  There were some unhappy guests, but I think if we remember that this is a large resort in a laid back slow paced country will help us keep things in perspective.

Pictures to come shortly!!!